Chapter 71 Life is but a dream, all is vanity; another encounter with the fugitive Qu Ruoxuan.

Wu Jue looked bewildered: "I don't know."

Song Yin said sternly, "Tell the truth if you don't want him to die!"

Wu Jue's heart leaped into his throat. "Very...very dangerous?"

Song Yin: "What do you think? If we don't tell the truth, we'll just have to wait for his inner demons to erupt and he to die."

Wu Jue gritted his teeth: "Senior Brother does indeed have inner demons. Please ask Senior Sister Song and Fellow Daoist Shi to help keep this a secret."

Shi Heming's lips twitched. When she needed something from Song Yin, she would call her "Senior Sister," but when she didn't need anything from him, she would call her "Fellow Daoist." Clearly, he and Song Yin were both his direct disciples.

Song Yin took out a bottle of sword-repairing pills and fed one to Xiao Daiheng.

"Although the six peaks of the inner sect are like one family, I won't save people for nothing. The Heart-Preserving Pill I just gave you, the Sword-Repairing Pill I'm using now, and all the other pills I'll need later, I'll have him convert them into spirit stones for me."

Wu Jue: "Don't worry, Senior Sister Song, I definitely won't let you suffer any losses."

Song Yin even had a fourth-grade sword-repairing pill on her; Elder Qi truly doted on his only disciple.

After feeding Xiao Daiheng a pill, Song Yin would check on his physical condition.

"What powerful enemy did you encounter that made you so disheveled?" Seeing that Xiao Daiheng's injuries had stabilized and were improving, Song Yin also tossed a healing pill to Wu Jue.

Wu Jue caught the pill and swallowed it. "Thank you, Senior Sister Song. We encountered two Nascent Soul demon beasts. After several battles, we finally managed to kill them. Senior Brother was seriously injured while saving me at the critical moment."

As he spoke, Wu Jue was filled with self-reproach and regret. If he had been more careful, his senior brother would not have been injured while saving him.

"Nascent Soul demon beasts, two of them?!" Song Yin was dumbfounded.

People from Lingpo Peak are truly amazing. If I ever have to go out for training and encounter battles, I'll hire people from Lingpo Peak to help me immediately.

What a great henchman!

"Cough cough!" Xiao Daiheng slowly woke up. "Where am I?"

Wu Jue immediately knelt down beside Xiao Daiheng and said excitedly, "Senior Brother, you're finally awake! How are you feeling?"

Xiao Daiheng: "Where did you get these pills? Cough cough." The two of them had used up all their pills, and without pills to treat their injuries, it would be difficult to heal and recover using spiritual energy.

Wu Jue: "It's Senior Sister Song, Elder Qi's disciple. She examined your injuries and then treated you."

Xiao Daiheng sensed the changes within his body and discovered that the inner demon that was about to erupt had subsided. "Inner demon..."

Wu Jue: "It was also Senior Sister Song who fed you the Sword-Replenishing Pill."

Xiao Daiheng's gaze fell on the elegant female cultivator standing to the side. "Thank you, Fellow Daoist Song, for saving my life. I will remember it forever. If you ever need me in the future, you may come to Lingpo Peak to find me. I will do my best to help you."

Song Yin: "No need. Just give me the spirit stones you used after you leave the secret realm. Consider it as you using the spirit stones to ask me for medical treatment. What happened just now was just a transaction. If you want to thank someone, thank Fellow Daoist Wu. He kept you from giving up on you and kept calling me, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, 'Senior Sister' so that I would save you."

"I'm telling you, Fellow Daoist Wu, you don't need to call me Senior Sister anymore. It's not too late to call me that after my cultivation surpasses yours."

Xiao Daiheng: "Yes, Wu Jue is indeed a very good person." Otherwise, he wouldn't have risked his life to save people. There are many inner disciples cultivating on Lingpo Peak, but only Wu Jue is someone he can trust and rely on.

Wu Jue, who hadn't even blinked while fighting a Nascent Soul demon beast, had teary eyes and said, "Senior Brother..."

Song Yin: "Wu Jue said you've run out of pills. Do you need me to sell you some? We can trade with spirit herbs at the sect's Wanbaolou prices. You must have picked some spirit herbs along the way, right?"

After careful consideration, Xiao Daiheng took out the Pure Heart Nirvana Flower from his storage bag. "This is something we obtained from a Nascent Soul demon beast. We'll use it to exchange for some pills with you, fellow Daoist."

Song Yin: !

The Pure Heart Nirvana Flower—a wonderful thing! She knew of this flower, but unfortunately, it was guarded by a Nascent Soul demon beast, so she and Shi Heming had no choice but to give it up. Who would have thought it would end up in her hands again in this way, after all the twists and turns!

Shi Heming also recognized the flower. Xiao Daiheng's ability to produce it meant Song Yin hadn't suffered a loss. His respect for Xiao Daiheng and Wu Jue increased, and he quietly deactivated the killing formation encased within the defensive array.

The formations can be stacked. During Song Yin's treatment, Shi Heming kept the killing formation under control to prevent them from launching a sudden attack.

Song Yin: "The Pure Heart Nirvana Flower is an ingredient for many Grade 5 pills. It can be consumed alone to help cultivators eliminate distracting thoughts and focus on cultivation. When used by cultivators to eliminate distracting thoughts during a breakthrough, it is incredibly effective. If you exchange it for it, I won't let you lose out. I will give you all these healing and rapid spiritual energy recovery pills, and I will also give you four Sword Repairing Pills."

There are six bottles each of healing pills and spirit-restoring pills, all of the highest quality grade three pills, either top-grade or supreme-grade.

"Thank you very much, fellow Daoist." Xiao Daiheng expressed his sincere gratitude. He hadn't expected the extra four Sword Repair Pills. It seemed that he had made the right move by giving away the Pure Heart Nirvana Flower.

Xiao Daiheng and Wu Jue rested here until Song Yin and the others set off the next day, and neither of them had any intention of leaving.

Wu Jue said to the two of them, "Senior Brother still needs to rest. Thank you for your help last night, Senior Sister Song. Be careful on your journey ahead. The closer you get to the ruins, the more dangerous it becomes. The central ruins of the Floating Dream Secret Realm are guarded by a powerful divine soul. If you want to enter and find rare treasures, be careful of every flower growing in the ruins."

"When you smell the fragrance of flowers, remember to hold your breath and move away immediately. The fragrance of flowers can easily make people fall into a dream and experience all aspects of life, or make them confront their inner fears, and finally make them die silently in the dream."

"There is a saying that life is like a dream and all is empty, which is also the origin of the name of the Dream Realm."

Song Yin cupped her hands in greeting: "I truly didn't know what you were talking about. Thank you for reminding me; it's been a great help. Consider the pill you took last night a gift from me, as a token of my gratitude for this message." She then said to Shi Heming, "Let's go."

Wu Jue: "Hey, slow down."

The two walked too fast. He returned to Xiao Daiheng's side and told him what had just happened.

Xiao Daiheng: "Fellow Daoist Song is an upright person who does not take advantage of others, which is in stark contrast to the other disciples. After you leave, you can visit each other more often. It would be a good thing if we could become friends."

Wu Jue: "I also think so. I'm completely convinced to call her senior sister. But Shi Heming, who's next to her, is very wary. He didn't let his guard down about us until we left last night."

Xiao Daiheng swallowed the pill: "With Fellow Daoist Song here, he is not our enemy. I will speed up my recovery and try to go to the ruins tomorrow."

"I will protect my senior brother."

Half a day later, Xiao Daiheng, who had been recuperating, suddenly opened his eyes. Wu Jue also drew his sword, alert to his surroundings, ready to launch an attack at any moment.

The sounds of fighting came from all around; it seemed there were quite a few people involved.

As the noise grew closer, Xiao Daiheng drew his natal sword and stood back-to-back with Wu Jue.

The sounds of fighting gradually faded into the distance.

The two lowered their guard, and Wu Jue frowned, "They went in the direction that Senior Sister Song left in."

Xiao Daiheng swallowed several more pills. "I'll focus on healing my injuries. If it's feasible, we'll set off tonight."

Song Yin and Shi Heming traversed the forest, avoiding monsters and keeping their distance from people.

Her actions didn't qualify her as a swordsman, yet she safely made her way to the very center of the Floating Dream Secret Realm.

Finally, the ruins they were looking for were right in front of them.

"Is this the ruins at the heart of the secret realm...?"

The entire ruin resembled a palace, but the building was dilapidated, the roof was overgrown with weeds, and much of the paint on the pillars had peeled off. The wind blew, and the bells hanging under the eaves jingled.

A long stone staircase leads to the gate, flanked by human-shaped statues twenty or thirty meters tall, their dusty, worn surfaces covered in moss. The gate stands wide open, the interior pitch black. The entire ruin resembles a monster with gaping maws, waiting for its prey to enter its jaws.

Song Yin had never seen these statues before, nor could she recognize the figures depicted. Strangely, the two rows of statues all shared the same face; some stood holding whisks, some made hand gestures as if casting spells, and others stood with their hands behind their backs gazing into the distance, and so on.

"It's so shabby!"

Song Yin pointed at the statue: "This one is missing an arm, that one is missing a leg, pfft, it perfectly embodies the concept of missing arms and legs."

A streak of light flashed overhead, piercing through multiple statues, causing those already missing arms and legs to lose their heads as well, and some to shatter completely into dust.

Song Yin was shocked: "Holy crap, there's already a fight as soon as we arrive."

Where were the streaks of light? They were clearly people who had been knocked away.

Shi Heming turned around and saw six people standing in a row in the sky behind him. One of them had not yet retracted his right hand, and it was clear that he had caused the attack.

The person buried under the rubble of the statue crawled out from under the debris, with wounds on his arms and face that kept oozing blood.

Song Yin looked closely and exclaimed, "Qu Ruoxuan?!"

What bad luck! She ran into Qu Ruoxuan, who was being chased, again. Remembering the unforeseen disaster on the flying boat, Song Yin grabbed Shi Heming and quickly ran into the palace.

"Let's go quickly and not get involved."

To the six people above, it looked as if they were running towards Qu Ruoxuan.

"I... cough cough, seeing that you are rogue cultivators, I advise you two not to get involved in this matter, lest you get yourself into trouble." The cultivator on the far left of the six people in the air spoke up.

Song Yin stopped abruptly, turned around, and said, "We will not interfere. We didn't see anything today. There are many demonic beasts around the ruins, and these statues were also the work of demonic beasts. We are just small-time cultivators trying to enter the ruins, and we will not disturb your business."

"Hmph, you're smart to know what's good for you."

The black-robed array cultivator among the six, seeing that the two were not disciples of any sect or school, did not pay any attention to them.

"Is it you?" Qu Ruoxuan recognized Song Yin and the others.

The gazes of the six people above all fell on Song Yin and Shi Heming, their eyes so intense they seemed to pierce through them.

Song Yin was on the verge of collapse. "Big sister, we don't know you at all. Please don't try to make up any connections."

After she entered the secret realm, all the dangers came from others. Who did she offend? The six people above are all at the Golden Core stage. Does she expect her and Shi Heming to fight six against one? No way!

Qu Ruoxuan realized her mistake and said, "Sorry, I mistook you for someone else."

Song Yin quickly ran into the ruins, but ice spikes fell from the sky and stuck at the entrance, preventing her from moving forward.

Song Yin gasped.

It was clear that the six people didn't want to let him and Song Yin go. Shi Heming pinched a talisman with his fingertips and used it to protect Song Yin and the others.

Qu Ruoxuan's expression also changed drastically.

"So you do know each other." The black-robed cultivator sneered. "Surrender, Qu Ruoxuan. All those who protected you have died because of you. Even if you get out alive, do you still have the face to face the families of the dead and continue to live as if nothing happened? If you know what's good for you, obediently hand over your body and eyes, and we might be able to spare your soul."

Song Yin and Shi Heming suddenly looked at Qu Ruoxuan.

The body, the eyes...

Innate Dao Body?

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Author's Note: Song Yin: I really messed up my Q account. I survived until the very end but got brutally beaten. Those six looked really fierce. Another tough battle ahead. [Chin resting on hand]

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[Empty bowl]